Congo Breeze

08/06/2024

We are happy to report that Congo Breeze suffered very minimal damage in the recent storm that passed through the area over the weekend. Apart from a couple of loose lanai screens we are in great shape. We're so thankful! 💙

If anyone is interested in an end of the summer getaway at a huge discount, we have August 15-24 available (4 night minimum stay required).😎 Only $299 per night!

If you are interested please message us through our page or email us at: [email protected]

07/13/2024

🌴🌞 🚤 Summer vacation in the Cape 🚤 🌞🌴

05/17/2024

We recently returned from a trip to Congo Breeze. 😎 Here are some new updates.

05/17/2024

We have never shared a review on our page before but this one is too good not to share. Receiving a review like this is so rewarding!

Our family (ages 6 to 75) stayed at Congo Breeze for 10 days in May. We came to town to celebrate my oldest son's college graduation and wedding! This is by far the best rental property that we have encountered! The house has such a spacious, open layout that we never felt crowded. There was so much fun to be had at this house with the pool and ping-pong tables, corn hole, pool toys, hot tub, bikes, fishing off the dock, etc! (We actually caught quite a few unique salt-water creatures off the dock using shrimp bait!) The house is generously stocked with all necessities (toilet paper, paper towel, coffee, spices, garbage bags, etc). It also had so many extras (batteries, toothbrushes, espresso, games, wine...literally everything we could have wanted!) The kayak was super fun, and the trip to open water was very quick. There is ample parking, pool towels, and we were surprised by the extra fridge near the pool area! Perfect for all the drinks!! Patti was so helpful during our stay whenever we had a question. I have never had a host so responsive! The location of the house is a super easy commute to groceries, Ft. Myers, etc. The road is very quiet. Beds were very comfortable- even the bunk beds- and there were several pillow options! They truly thought of everything! We could not have asked for anything more from a rental, and if we come to the area again, I would love to stay at Congo Breeze!! Thank you for sharing your home!!

02/10/2024

Congo Breeze is looking great! Here are some recent updates.

01/14/2024

We just returned from a week in Cape Coral! ☀️ It was nice to escape the snow for a few days!

10/18/2023

We just returned from a great week in Cape Coral. It was a perfect balance of relaxation and improving Congo Breeze.

07/25/2023

Last week we hosted YouTube influencer, Andy Slye at Congo Breeze. He created an amazing video featuring the home, specifically the solar panels and EV charger.

Check out the video in the link below:

Congo Breeze has been updated with solar panels in order to cover the cost of electricity for the house. What this means for you is that if you have an EV vehicle, you can charge it. It also means that you will not receive an electricity usage charge for any reason when you stay at Congo Breeze.

07/06/2023

We recently returned from a week at Congo Breeze as a family. As usual we had a fabulous time and managed to make some great upgrades to the property.

05/06/2023

We just returned from a wonderful couple of days at Congo Breeze! We had a great time and got a lot done! We've had some wonderful guests over the past couple of months that had good ideas that we were able to implement.

02/28/2023

One year ago today we purchased Congo Breeze. Can you tell we were excited? 😊

The first year was challenging (6 months ago today Hurricane Ian hit), but we would do it all over again! It’s been a year of extreme highs and extreme lows but we have full confidence it will continue to be a success and that the best is yet to come.

02/22/2023

We’re always trying to improve things at Congo Breeze. A recent guest suggested that we add a work space for those that need to get some work done while on vacation.

We thought it was a great idea! We recently added a desk, chair and external monitor to the primary bedroom.

Please keep the suggestions coming! We value your feedback!

02/06/2023

Great news for beach lovers! 🏝️ 🌞

The news we have been waiting for!! Tarpon Bay Beach & Blind Pass Beach open tomorrow🎉🎉

01/20/2023

💙🌞This is so exciting! 🌞💙

The Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce has updated its list of businesses that are open again after Hurricane Ian. According to the chamber of commerce, more than 30 businesses are now ready to welcome visitors and locals back on the island. Below is a gallery of photos from the Sanibel Captiva Cha...

01/11/2023

YUP! 😂

12/03/2022

We recently returned from a wonderful week at Congo Breeze.

11/10/2022

After months of hard work, we are proud to announce that our website (https://www.congobreeze.com) is up and running! Thank you Speck Designs! The website allows you and your friends to save an average of $50/night by booking directly with us and cutting out commission fees from traditional vacation rental websites.

Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc on the area but are amazed at how quickly things are getting back to normal. We fared better than most but did have a lot of cancellations and would love to get those nights booked again, especially for repeat VIP guests! Please look at our calendar and if you would like to book use code VIPRETURN for a 5% discount. We have minimum night requirements but in some cases we would consider waiving those for repeat guests.

10/27/2022

We are thrilled to report that our pool is looking great. 😍 It had to be drained, scrubbed and vacuumed but it is now crystal clear. Our pool pump and heater have been replaced (they were damaged in the flooding). Internet and cable TV are scheduled to be fixed on Saturday. Things are starting to get closer to normal!

10/14/2022

Article from the local newspaper:

https://www.capecoralbreeze.com/news/local-news/2022/10/13/cape-couple-provides-shelter-from-the-storm/

As water levels began to rise in his Cape Coral home with a Category 4 hurricane swirling outside, Jason Collins knew the clock was ticking. First the water started seeping in, then it raised to his knees, then to the waist. He looked at three of his sons, ages 8, 12, and 14, fitted them […]

10/13/2022

Two weeks after Hurricane Ian and we are grateful to report that Congo Breeze is looking better every day. Yesterday the lanai and dock were power washed. The inside of the house was deep cleaned and all of the windows were washed. Many of the lanai screens have been replaced. We are still working on getting the pool up and running but it shouldn’t be long.

10/07/2022

Our power just came back on! Earlier today our pool service came and added chemicals to the pool. Progress feels good!

10/05/2022

❤️

10/05/2022

We finally have more pictures to share with you. We are excited to start the cleanup as soon as we are able so people can enjoy the house once again. At this point, we are happy it’s being used as a refuge for our amazing neighbors. 

09/30/2022

Pictures of the garage with mud all over the floor and of the lanai area with flood water in the pool.

09/30/2022

Here’s a video that our neighbor took at 4:30pm on Wednesday. This is the door from the kitchen into the lanai/pool area. He put towels down by two of the doors. We came within one inch of our home flooding. The blue house at the end of the video is his home. 

09/30/2022

We are happy to report Congo Breeze survived Hurricane Ian. We had two anxious days of waiting to hear as nobody was able to travel to our home to check on it for us. The way we finally heard about our house is an amazing story.

As many of you might know, we purchased Congo Breeze in February and hope to own the home long term as an amazing place for us and guests to stay. In June we installed 60 solar panels on the roof of the home to reduce/eliminate our electric bill. Most solar panels only work when the power is on because they need an inverter from to convert the power from DC to AC. We paid extra for a new technology that allows the solar panels to power the home without electricity knowing that Florida is prone to power outages. We told the installer we didn’t want a battery back up as they are very expensive but when he was doing the install he ran into issues and offered us a battery at a huge discount as that made the install a lot easier due to a few factors. So, in the end we reluctantly paid for the battery.

Today at 3:58 PM Mike’s office phone rang and it was a gentleman from Oregon. Mike figured he wanted a mortgage (that’s Mike’s job) but the gentleman said that he was the father of our neighbor on Congo Court. His son and three grandsons were riding out the storm and the hurricane tore the roof right off their house. It also flooded their home terribly and he and his three boys ran outside to seek shelter. The entire street was flooded and the only dry place they could see was next door at our house. Our house was also the only street on the house with any lights on. He ran over with his boys and knocked on the door. Once it was apparent nobody was home he had to break a storm window (not easy!) to get into the house as he needed a safe place for his family. At one point water started coming in the house from the garage but they used towels to keep the water out. He wanted to tell us right away but he had to wait until this morning to get in touch with his dad in Oregon to have his dad try to track us down as we had never met this neighbor since he just moved in recently and we live in Michigan. Our solar panels and battery kept the lights on until 4:00 am and came back on today when the sun came out and started charging things again. He said other neighbors on Congo Court also rode out the storm and experienced flooding and have no electricity, so they are also using our home off and on for a place to charge their devices to try to communicate. Mike started crying when he was talking to the neighbor’s dad and I started crying when Mike told me what happened. We are so happy we put up the solar panels when we did and that we got the battery with the system!

Our house never flooded but it sounds like we did experience some damage. We had two feet of water in the garage which likely destroyed a refrigerator, dryer, and other possessions. Our palm trees and pretty much any landscaping we had were uprooted and are gone. Our lanai is torn to shreds and will need to be completely redone although the pool area in general seems okay apart from that. I’m sure we will be alerted to more damage when Chris (our awesome handyman many of you have met) assesses the damage tomorrow. We will add pictures of the damage tomorrow when we receive them and will also continue to post updates on this page.

We are so thankful that our house was spared and that is a safe haven for our neighbors. We are also relieved and hopeful that we can get the needed repairs done in weeks to a couple months instead of this taking 6-12 months which was a definite possibility.

Thanks so much to those of you who have reached out to us! It really means a lot to us!

09/29/2022

As many of you know, a devastating hurricane passed through Cape Coral today. We are in Michigan and have been following as closely as we can. We know there has been an immense amount of damage in Cape Coral and there has also been a lot of flooding but we don’t know anything specific about Congo Breeze yet.  As soon as it’s safe to drive on the roads and the flooding has subsided we will have somebody check on it for us so that we can update this page.

07/06/2022